Analyzing Potential Playoff Matchups for the Portland Trail Blazers
By Jakob Ashlin
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz may be the most interesting opponent on this list. The Blazers suffered a 120-90 loss to the Jazz on December 21st and then lost to them again 117-96 on Christmas Day. December was a rough month for the Blazers. After their Christmas Day loss, the Blazers only won six out of their first thirteen games that month, so the timing was certainly not on Portland’s side.
In their two December, the Jazz were able to exploit the Blazers offensive weaknesses. The Jazz kept the game in the half court, and the Blazers fell on their old habit of relying on Damian Lillard or CJ McCollum to simply make something happen in isolation. As a result, the Blazers did not crack 100 points in either of those games despite being 10th in the NBA in points per game at 113.6.
However, those losses should be taken with a grain of salt. The Blazers were able to get back on track shortly after Christmas Day defeating the Golden State Warriors in overtime and going on to win eleven of their fifteen games in January including a 109-104 victory over the Jazz on January 21st.
Following the trade deadline, the Blazers have several players who can score in the half court including Hood, Kanter, and Jake Layman. On paper, the Blazers should be to defeat the Jazz. They have the best player in the series (Lillard). They can beat the Jazz in the half court with Kanter and Jusuf Nurkic or in transition with Lillard and McCollum. The Blazers are still vulnerable defensively, but the Jazz simply do not have the offensive firepower to outscore the Blazers.